BIOLOGY 366 POPULATION BIOLOGY

Laboratory Philosophy

(1/21/2008)

Understanding the interplay of genetic and environmental variation in generating phenotypic variation within and among species is the cornerstone of understanding what an adaptation is and the evolution of adaptation. The proximate and ultimate causes of animal diversity rest on the interaction between genes and environment as mediated through the phenotype of the animal. Evolutionary ecologists generally take three approaches in exploring this interplay. These follow the three themes associated with the laboratory portion of this course: 1) studying the relationship between an animal and its environment in a controlled and artificial context of a laboratory using techniques of experimental design; 2) examining and experimenting with naturally occuring variation in the field; and 3) using quantitative analytic and computer simulation techniques in investigating theoretical models developed from both deductive and inductive scientific methodology. Variation is central to all these themes and an understanding of how to think and work with variation is integral to all aspects of this course. If molecular genetics can be thought of as one integral component to a full knowledge of an understanding of organismic evolution then biological statistics can be thought of as a complementary integral component. In the genetic <->organismal <-> environmental <-> statistical model that we will develop in this course, this laboratory will work on refining the skills associated with the last 3 elements and leave the basic molecular skills and methodologies to be learned else where.